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That Was Ernest: The Story of Ernest Holmes & the Religious Science Movement
Book by Armor, Reginald C., Llast, Robin, Vergara, Arthur
143 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1999
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September 15, 2024
A LONG-TIME ASSOCIATE OF HOLMES GIVES A "PERSONAL" PORTRAIT OF THE MAN AND HIS IDEAS
The publisher wrote in the introductory section of this 1999 book, "This personal and informal memoir is unique in the history of Religious Science, Science of Mind, and New Thought. Written by the only person to have been beside Ernest Holmes on an almost daily basis from a time shortly after Holmes' move from Maine to California in 1912 until his death in 1960... it examines Ernest Holmes from up close, covering almost a half-century of day-to-day contact... it is the account of one whose association with Dr. Holmes began as a twelve-year-old... when Ernest Holmes was only twenty-eight, but already well on his way to becoming the master teacher he would be.... [Armor] was truly the first pupil of 'graduate' of this great transformative philosophy... it testifies to the fact that Ernest Holmes' teaching was more than just ESSENTIALLY the same from the earliest days to the end of his life... the principal interest of Dr. Armor's book is ... 'Ernest Holmes the man.'"
Armor notes that "Mr. and Mrs. Powers took an immediate liking to Ernest and in a sense adopted this grown-up little farmboy... he would go home with a borrowed copy of this Christian Science textbook [Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures] and pore over it with diligence and fascination. But his reaction to the healing philosophy was that anything that anyone had ever done, anyone else could do. There could be no secrets in Nature." (Pg. 27-28)
He observes that "whereas Mrs. Eddy had her own 'revelation' theology, and exclusive church organization, New Thought made no such claims. It was looser, more open, and based as much as possible on RESULTS rather than on the additional element of somebody's theology and revelation." (Pg. 32)
When Holmes was talking with a university professor, he was asked, "Just what IS Religious Science, anyway?" and Holmes replied, "Religious Science if a correlation of the laws of science, the opinions of philosophy, and the revelations of religion applied to the human needs and the aspirations of man." (Pg. 65-66)
He admits, "There is no certain way of measuring Nona Brooks' influence on Ernest; but perhaps one measure of it is that when, later, it became time for Ernest to acquire his own, increasingly necessary, ministerial credentials, they would be in the Divine Science tradition; and Agnes Galer---the Divine Science minister who was also a sometime member of the Holmes household---would perform the ordination." (Pg. 75-76)
He explains, "Ernest felt, in synthesizing the wisdom of the ages, that he had something better; that each one could go DIRECTLY TO THE SOURCE; that one needed no priesthood or intermediary to intercede on one's behalf or act as a 'middleman.' The Science of Mind concept is rather that each one maintains one's individuality in consciousness and thus each has a 'hotline' to the Father-Mother... each one of us is an individualization of the One." (Pg. 84)
Armor notes, however, that in 1934, "we moved Sunday services to the Wiltern Theatre, which seated 2800... it wasn't too long before we were turning away 400-500 people on Sunday. There was just no place to put the crowd that came to hear Ernest during those years... still he would not consider the term 'church.'" (Pg. 87) He adds, "By 1939 we felt it necessary to credential our workers. This would help stem the numbers of those who could bring criticism on the name of Religious Science." (Pg. 98)
He recounts, "When the International Association of Religious Science Churches had been chartered... there seemed to be clashes of personality, resulting in friction between Ernest and some others. I would not attribute it... to any resentment of Ernest's insistence on tight control. The sudden turbulence, crystallizing at the January 1954 meeting... I could not comprehend at the time why the International wanted full Institute authority to license ministers and practitioners. This was certainly at complete variance with Ernest's entire concept, and he walked out on it. I had no choice but to follow. Science of Mind magazine, which only a few months earlier had listed 58 churches, showed 16 fewer in the October 1954 issue. Half of these later returned to the fold." (Pg. 120-121)
This is a very insightful historical portrait of Holmes and the Religious Science movement, that will be of great interest to students of related and sympathetic spiritual paths.
The publisher wrote in the introductory section of this 1999 book, "This personal and informal memoir is unique in the history of Religious Science, Science of Mind, and New Thought. Written by the only person to have been beside Ernest Holmes on an almost daily basis from a time shortly after Holmes' move from Maine to California in 1912 until his death in 1960... it examines Ernest Holmes from up close, covering almost a half-century of day-to-day contact... it is the account of one whose association with Dr. Holmes began as a twelve-year-old... when Ernest Holmes was only twenty-eight, but already well on his way to becoming the master teacher he would be.... [Armor] was truly the first pupil of 'graduate' of this great transformative philosophy... it testifies to the fact that Ernest Holmes' teaching was more than just ESSENTIALLY the same from the earliest days to the end of his life... the principal interest of Dr. Armor's book is ... 'Ernest Holmes the man.'"
Armor notes that "Mr. and Mrs. Powers took an immediate liking to Ernest and in a sense adopted this grown-up little farmboy... he would go home with a borrowed copy of this Christian Science textbook [Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures] and pore over it with diligence and fascination. But his reaction to the healing philosophy was that anything that anyone had ever done, anyone else could do. There could be no secrets in Nature." (Pg. 27-28)
He observes that "whereas Mrs. Eddy had her own 'revelation' theology, and exclusive church organization, New Thought made no such claims. It was looser, more open, and based as much as possible on RESULTS rather than on the additional element of somebody's theology and revelation." (Pg. 32)
When Holmes was talking with a university professor, he was asked, "Just what IS Religious Science, anyway?" and Holmes replied, "Religious Science if a correlation of the laws of science, the opinions of philosophy, and the revelations of religion applied to the human needs and the aspirations of man." (Pg. 65-66)
He admits, "There is no certain way of measuring Nona Brooks' influence on Ernest; but perhaps one measure of it is that when, later, it became time for Ernest to acquire his own, increasingly necessary, ministerial credentials, they would be in the Divine Science tradition; and Agnes Galer---the Divine Science minister who was also a sometime member of the Holmes household---would perform the ordination." (Pg. 75-76)
He explains, "Ernest felt, in synthesizing the wisdom of the ages, that he had something better; that each one could go DIRECTLY TO THE SOURCE; that one needed no priesthood or intermediary to intercede on one's behalf or act as a 'middleman.' The Science of Mind concept is rather that each one maintains one's individuality in consciousness and thus each has a 'hotline' to the Father-Mother... each one of us is an individualization of the One." (Pg. 84)
Armor notes, however, that in 1934, "we moved Sunday services to the Wiltern Theatre, which seated 2800... it wasn't too long before we were turning away 400-500 people on Sunday. There was just no place to put the crowd that came to hear Ernest during those years... still he would not consider the term 'church.'" (Pg. 87) He adds, "By 1939 we felt it necessary to credential our workers. This would help stem the numbers of those who could bring criticism on the name of Religious Science." (Pg. 98)
He recounts, "When the International Association of Religious Science Churches had been chartered... there seemed to be clashes of personality, resulting in friction between Ernest and some others. I would not attribute it... to any resentment of Ernest's insistence on tight control. The sudden turbulence, crystallizing at the January 1954 meeting... I could not comprehend at the time why the International wanted full Institute authority to license ministers and practitioners. This was certainly at complete variance with Ernest's entire concept, and he walked out on it. I had no choice but to follow. Science of Mind magazine, which only a few months earlier had listed 58 churches, showed 16 fewer in the October 1954 issue. Half of these later returned to the fold." (Pg. 120-121)
This is a very insightful historical portrait of Holmes and the Religious Science movement, that will be of great interest to students of related and sympathetic spiritual paths.
Displaying 1 of 1 review